Everything’s coming up ... peonies?
Mother’s Day bouquets are branching out.
Peonies are in. Carnations are back. And a silver-hued leaf that feels like velvet is the accent du jour.
So say the florists piecing together the bouquets that will be delivered to millions of moms this Mother’s Day.
The multi-layered peony remains a perennial Mother’s Day favorite, and perhaps even more so this year amid rumors that they are also the preferred bud of royal bride-to-be Meghan Markle. “It was already really popular, and I’m sure she’ll be putting it over the top,’’ says Megan Bailey Darmody, spokeswoman for the Washington D.C.-based online flower delivery service Urban Stems.
The holiday is the $30.8 billion floral industry’s second busiest, after Valentine’s Day and tied with Christmas. And with the National Retail Federation predicting that Americans will spend $2.6 billion on flowers this Mother’s Day, florists are working overtime and bulking up their staffs to meet the demand.
Those busy workers are finding there’s another bloom back in fashion this year after a long drought in which it was considered dull and old-fashioned — the carnation.
The frilly flower is connected to the very first Mother’s Day in 1908, when the holiday’s founder, Anna Jarvis, wore a carnation to a Mother’s Day service convened in Grafton, W.Va.
Flowers are not the sole star of the show. “We’re seeing people having a greater appreciation for more unusual foliages right now,” Farrell says, noting that a variety dubbed “Dusty Miller” is now in particular demand. The silvertoned, velvety green has gotten significant time in the spotlight on social media sites Instagram and Pinterest.